I thought it was time, with the Atlas V about to roll out - for a new thread for NH for the launch etc.

Someone asked over at the HZ just how NH can go so fast, this was my reply....

QUOTE

How do you get a spacecraft to Jupiter in under a year? Easy. Make it very very light, and put it on a very very big rocket. The config of Atlas V rocket being used to launch NH (551 - 5m fairing, 5 solids, and one engine on the Centaur stage ) would typically put 8,670kg into GTO or 20,520 into LEO.New Horizons is 478kg, and it's Star 48B 3rd stage is 2,137kg - so instead of hauling 20 tons, this vehicle is hauling about 2.5 tons thus you get a HUGE velocity out of it. AND, once it's done that, you have the final kick of the 48B, 591 thousand kgs-s (thus accelerating is all a further 3.5 - 4km/s ball park speed, if my maths is right)At launch - the vehicle is 573,160kg. NH is 0.083% of it.Imagine the Apollo entry capsule on top of a Saturn V...tiny tiny tiny... that was 5,800 kg on a 3,038,500kg rocket - 0.191% - more than double that percentage of NH. The cutaway's are almost comical, with this tiny gold-clad box on an enormous vehicle.Basically - it's a LOT of rocket, and not a lot of payload.For comparison, look how much fuss was made of Stardust that entered so quickly. It took >16 hrs to get from the distance of the moon to Utah. NH makes that journey in 9 hours One thing the NH mission is not short of, is superlatives.

I'm not one for good luck charms (although I'll eat peanuts during a Martian EDL with the best of them), but this mission has been so long in coming, that it deserves every ounce of luck it can have - the best, most accurate launch possible, the cleanest checkout, and incident free cruise to Jupiter.

Goodluck and Godspeed little one, we're with you every step of the way.

DougPS - Alan, you're a credit to your field, spending so much time answering questions and writing the PI Perspectives, it's been a hell of a journey!

Yes, Godspeed indeed. The launch will be spectacular and although I will be working tomorrow, I plan on coming home for lunch and watching the coverage live on my 56-inch HDTV. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we have a launch tomorrow. Good luck to the NH team!

4-5 mph helvick? That was a humble start. Now its on the pad it will be a lot more soon. Even though New Horizon wont beat the Voyagers in the end. Good luck little probe, I hope they did check your optics and fuel tank properly.

The Flight Readiness Review was successfully completed today at the Kennedy Space Center. The launch of New Horizons remains scheduled for Jan. 17. The White House Office of Science Technology Policy has also given approval for the launch to proceed.

Final spacecraft closeouts are under way and will conclude Friday, Jan. 13. The payload test team will be conducting spacecraft electrical tests on Saturday, Jan. 14, and the fairing access doors will be closed for flight.

Rollout of the Atlas V from the Vertical Integration Facility is scheduled to occur at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 16. That afternoon, the storable RP-1 fuel will be loaded aboard the Atlas first stage tank.

On Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 10:39 a.m., Pad 41 will be cleared of personnel in preparation for cryogenic fueling operations which are scheduled to begin at L-2 hours, or 11:24 a.m.

--------------------

"After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined, and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft."

- First of all, the clock showing GMT and EST time shows 18:00 GMT when my own clock shows 10:41 (PST). So it appears that on my machine at least the applet appears to be running behind by 41 minutes. Does anybody else see a similar delay, or is the clock on the display synchronized to yours?

- Second, the "Window opening time" is listed as 016:17:25:00, which I think is a ddd:hh:mm:ss display. But if that's the case, that refers to a time that passed about an hour ago, and I don't think NH has launched yet Am I reading this wrong or is the applet messed up and does anybody else see the same thing?

- First of all, the clock showing GMT and EST time shows 18:00 GMT when my own clock shows 10:41 (PST). So it appears that on my machine at least the applet appears to be running behind by 41 minutes. Does anybody else see a similar delay, or is the clock on the display synchronized to yours?

- Second, the "Window opening time" is listed as 016:17:25:00, which I think is a ddd:hh:mm:ss display. But if that's the case, that refers to a time that passed about an hour ago, and I don't think NH has launched yet Am I reading this wrong or is the applet messed up and does anybody else see the same thing?

--Emily

The only countdown clock I follow is the one on the JHU website...since it's much simpler

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